Rating (5 is a must read - 1 is low interest in reading)

Readability: 5

Maintains Attention: 4

Applicability of Information: 5

Review

“I’ve Always Looked Up To Giraffes” is a motivational and inspirational read. Gouldthorpe andGravitt have written a wonderful book full of funny stories and anecdotal thoughts thatcommunicate a serious message about teamwork, leadership, communication, and customer service.

Gouldthorpe and Gravitt have done a brilliant job of pulling together some of the most timeless and universal truths of great leadership. This book is easy and engaging to read. Although it is filled with numerous stories and at times is entertaining, Gouldthorpe and Gravitt send a very serious message about the impact and significance of effective teamwork, leadership, communication, and customer service.

“I’ve Always Looked Up To Giraffes” would make an excellent choice for an organization toprovide for all of their leaders and staff. It is a quick read with a lot of great leadershipcharacteristics and traits. Gouldthorpe and Gravitt offer tremendous encouragement for leaders and staff today who are looking to development fundamentals of great teamwork, leadership,communication, and customer service.

Summary of Main Points

It is difficult to summarize this book succinctly due to the large number of concepts thatGouldthorpe and Gravitt discuss in this powerful leadership book.

Gouldthorpe and Gravitt have focused their book on concepts of teamwork, leadership, communication, and customer service. There is a common theme through all of these areas, faith and positive attitude. The heart of this book is believing in others and yourself. Gouldthorpe and Gravitt share example after example of people who cared about others before themselves. One of the fundamental principles that Gouldthorpe and Gravitt talk about is the concept of servant leadership.

Through their stories and examples they communicate numerous strategies of servant leadership. They discuss strategies such as celebrating successes, hard work, treating others the way they want to be treated and putting your employees first.

One of the unique traits of Gouldthorpe and Gravitt’s book is at the end of each section they share a “Giraffism”. These “Giraffisms” are one line statements that summarize the key concept of each section. They provide an easy mechanism to go back through their book and continuously gain nuggets of wisdom.

Call to Action

The following five strategies are recommended to enhance the effectiveness of your teamwork,leadership, communication, and customer service efforts:

1. “One of the first rules of business is to put your employees first. If you do, they’ll do the samefor your business.”

2. “Be yourself and seek the new.” Believe in yourself and take risks to grow and learn.

3. “Take time to smell the flowers and flower those around you.” Celebrate yours and other’ssuccesses.

4. “Great mentors take an interest in and make a difference in the lives of others.”

10 Keys of effective supervision

The 10 Keys of Effective Supervision: Building Healthy Organizational Cultures through Servant Leadership is the culmination of more than a decade of study and research involving our corporate clients, as well as the hundreds of people who have attended our seminars and workshops on the 10 Keys of Effective Supervision™.

The 10 Keys™ approach differs from that used by many organizations as we see supervision as having more to do with coaching than strictly instruction and accountability. From our perspective, the supervisor’s role should have a balance between high expectations and accountability and establishing a culture that encourages individual growth and development.